Stocks sink as Trump business plan stalls

NEW YORK — Stocks around the world sank Monday on worries that the Trump White House may not be able to help businesses as much as once thought. Many of the trends that have been in place since Election Day went into sharp reverse: The dollar’s value sank against other currencies, as did bank stocks, while prices jumped for Treasury bonds.

The stock market had been on a nearly nonstop rip higher since Election Day on the belief that President Donald Trump and a Republican-led Congress will cut income taxes, loosen regulations for companies and institute other business-friendly policies. Besides stronger economic growth, investors were also predicting higher inflation would be on the way.

But last week’s failure by Republicans to fulfill a pledge they’ve been making for years, to repeal the Affordable Care Act, raises doubts that Washington can push through other promises. The House on Friday pulled its bill to revamp the country’s health care system, when it was clear that it didn’t have enough votes to pass.

The dollar fell against most of its major rivals, including the Japanese yen, euro and British pound. The ICE U.S. Dollar index, which measures the U.S. currency’s value against six others, has given up nearly all of its big gains since Election Day.

The dollar fell to 110.38 Japanese yen from 110.80 late Friday. The euro rose to $1.0883 from $1.0808, and the British pound rose to $1.2593 from $1.2500.

Among the few gainers on the day were hospital stocks. The Republican health care plan would have resulted in 24 million additional uninsured people in a decade, according to a tally by the Congressional Budget Office. And hospitals take care of patients, whether they’re insured or not.

Stocks were weak around the world. In Asia, Japan’s Nikkei 225 index dropped 1.4 percent, South Korea’s Kospi index lost 0.6 percent and the Hang Seng in Hong Kong fell 0.7 percent. In Europe, the German DAX lost 0.9 percent, the French CAC 40 fell 0.4 percent and the FTSE 100 in London dropped 0.9 percent.

Here at MaineToday Media we value our readers and are committed to growing our community by encouraging you to add to the discussion.

To ensure conscientious dialogue we have implemented a strict no-bullying policy. To participate, you must follow our Terms of Use. Click here to flag and report a comment that violates our terms of use.